


Don't Let the Pictures Leave Your Phone

by AbbyWolf (Gemmi999)



Category: Glee RPF, Teen Wolf (TV) RPF
Genre: Actors, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Flirting, M/M, Meta, Promise, RPF, Romance, Social Media, Texting, Tumblr, Twitter, because they totally know about fandom, but in a cute way, fandom is totally mentioned and talked about and joked about
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-12
Updated: 2013-01-12
Packaged: 2017-11-25 04:57:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/635355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemmi999/pseuds/AbbyWolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The (completely untrue) story of how Chris might have possibly, slightly, maybe, potentially, used Tumblr to figure out what made Dylan tick.  </p>
<p>Or, how Chris and Dylan eventually fell in love (with the help of two different fandoms, tumblr, Darren, Tyler, Tyler, and quite a bit of google-fu).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Let the Pictures Leave Your Phone

**Author's Note:**

> I started this story because Chris Colfer referenced fan fiction, and essentially fandom, during his acceptance speech for the People's Choice Awards. And Teen Wolf has always been about breaking the fourth wall and interacting with the show in a new, interesting way. I wanted to explore how Chris Colfer and Dylan O'Brien seen fandom and interact with fandom, within the context of them slowly flirting and romancing one another. 
> 
> I've tried my best to reference the various fandom mentions and they are all detailed in the end notes of the chapter. If I made a mistake, PLEASE let me know! I'll do my best to fix it, if it is fixable.
> 
> *note: THIS IS RPF, but I don't own any of the people mentioned!*

Chris is looking at his mouth in the mirror, debating if he should maybe floss because he can feel something stuck in his teeth, when he’s interrupted. “Dude, you’re fucking ace at making fangirls go crazy,”. (1) 

He blinks for a second, before his eyes focus on the guy standing next to him, leaning forward to wash his hands. At least they’re not at the urinals, but Chris has never been that good at bathroom etiquette so he’s not sure what the proper response is. Normally strangers don’t come up to him in the bathroom and start conversations. “Um, thanks?” he eventually shrugs. “It’s not that hard, so.” Then he purposefully stops looking at the guy and reaches towards the complementary bathroom supplies for some floss. He’s pretty sure if he ignores the other guy, he’ll disappear. 

“Seriously.” The guy laughs a little, slowly. “And it just now occurred to me how awkward this must be, so I’m gonna--” The guy points to the door. “Good job tonight. I’m pretty sure Davis’ wishes he’d thought of it, so.” (2) Chris doesn’t bother looking up at the other man disappears from the bathroom, just starts flossing his teeth. He wants to get whatever it is out before he goes and faces Lea and the others. Otherwise he’ll poke at it all night with his tongue and that’d just end with Lea making dumb blowjob jokes. Not that he’s experienced her dumb blowjob jokes (except for every day for the past four years, so.)

~~

Chris doesn’t think about it again until his publicist sends him an article from the Daily Dot about fourth wall and fandom (3). His antics at the People’s Choice Awards are mentioned in passing, but the bulk of the article seems to be about the werewolf show on MTV. And of course, that’s when he sees the strange guy from the bathroom again, a picture of him at least.

Chris actually reads the article and finds out the guy has a name--Dylan--and he finally understands what Dylan meant about getting the fangirls to go crazy because Chris watches him and some other actor sit on a boat together and he maybe, just maybe, cracks a smile (4). And fuck, but now that Chris know’s the guy isn’t completely crazy, he maybe feels a tiny bit guilty over essentially blowing him off. 

Which is why, after some judicious googling and Tumblr surfing (and, okay, he’s kind of grateful that Tumblr wasn’t huge when he was in high school, because if it was there’s a good possibility he’d never have done anything productive) he realizes that the obvious thing to do, to apologize, is send Dylan some cookies (5).

~~

Chris’ phone buzzes in his pocket, but he’s in the middle of writing the next chapter of his book, and he has rules for himself about distractions, so he doesn’t check it(6). It’s only later, when he’s in the bathroom and his phone accidentally falls to the floor (damn tiny pockets) that he checks the message. He doesn’t recognize the number, but once he see’s the message: _Thanks for the cookies_ \--he realizes exactly who sent it.

_Not a problem. Sorry for being a douche._ It’s not perfect, but whatever. 

~~

“You’ve been holding out on us,” Darren whines the second Chris steps into the makeup trailer. 

Chris raises an eyebrow and doesn’t say a word, his face instead manages to convey his ‘what the fuck are you talking about’ perfectly fine.

“There was a delivery for you.” One of the makeup people says, nodding towards Chris’ chair. “It’s on your chair.”

Chris nods distractedly, looking at the rather plain brown package with slight distrust. This would be something Darren would do as a joke, or maybe Chord. Both can be pretty devious when left to their own devices.

“Is it safe to open?” Chris finally ventures, looking at Darren rather accusingly. 

Darren looks almost shocked, holding his hands up and shaking his head ‘no’ rather violently, causing everyone in the trailer to at least chuckle. “Promise, dude.”

Chris sighs his acceptance and steps up to the box, picking it up and turning it over in his hands to look for clues. It’s heavier than he thought it’d be, but there’s nothing suspicious.The package just says Chris Colfer and has a smiley face, which means whoever sent it probably wasn’t a fan. He sets it down and opens it, then starts laughing when he realizes it’s a six-pack of diet coke and a few cookies (7). 

A note is set precariously on top. Chris opens it.

_Chris-_

_I thought about buying into the whole Box Project for you, but wasn’t sure you really needed a digital copy of a Glee script. Instead read a few stories and realized that apparently you don’t have blood in your body, but rather caffeine. Just wanted to do my part._

_Dylan_

~~

Chris texts Dylan later that evening, after he’s wrapped in scenes for the newest episode and actually has time to think about things, like the charming guy that is now apparently flirting with him via texts and packages. Although, Chris muses, he might have started the whole thing with the cookies. 

_Thanks for the diet coke. Should I be worried about how much time you spend on tumblr?_

He’s walking towards his car when Dylan replies. _I tried printing out some of the gifs, but did you know they don’t move if they’re on paper?_ (8)

Chris full-on laughs at this. He’s glad he’s alone, because if ~~anybody~~ Darren saw him laughing like this? There’s no way he’d leave it alone. Darren didn’t have a subtle bone in his body and this was the kind of thing he practically lived off of.

Chris doesn’t respond, but only because he doesn’t know quite what to say. Not yet at least. When he gets home later he can google around, do a little Tumblr searching, and maybe find something worthy of a response. If he can’t find anything, he might even ask Darren for help. Maybe. (9)

~~

Chris is actually laying in bed when he realizes what he should send Dylan. He’s watching back episodes of Teen Wolf courtesy of his Roku and Netflix, and for a show that’s supposedly about werewolves, they spend a lot of time focusing on Dylan’s lips (10). And chest. And arms. And body. It makes Chris glad that he doesn’t have to show the same amount of skin on Glee, or spend hours treading water. He’s pretty sure Dylan’s thighs must have burned for forever after that scene (11).

Which is why, at close to 1 in the morning, he’s curling up on his side and sliding his phone off his nightstand to text: _Your thighs must have killed after that scene; did you have anybody offer to message them?_ It’s a bit more risque than anything else Chris has sent, but seriously? Chris can’t help but imagine how much pain Dylan might have been in. Take after take after take...

Chris practically bounces inside when Dylan texts him back minutes later. _Actually, no. Shame, too, because they could have used it. ;)_ Chris doesn’t let himself respond, though. He’s pretty sure if he did respond, the entire conversation would have turned into sexting within 10 minutes, and well, he kind of thinks he might eventually want more with Dylan. Maybe.

He does, however, spend the next thirty minutes looking for something to send Dylan to keep the flirting going. Nothing jumps out at him though, so he decides to think about it more in the morning and instead settles in for some serious sleep. He’s just about there when his phone lights up one more time.

_Did a fan really make you shoes? The most I’ve ever gotten is a bracelet that says ‘Sterek Forever’ on it. :(_ (12)

_The most awesome shoes in the history of awesomeness,_ Chris texts back. _sleep time now. Night!_

Chris is asleep in minutes, but the next morning as he’s thumbing his alarm off, Dylan’s response makes him smile: _Sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite!_. It’s been years since someone told Chris to sleep tight, and it makes him feel a little warm and fuzzy in his chest. Just a little though.

If he’s smiling more than usual while eating breakfast, and driving to work, and getting his hair and makeup done, well--he’s pretty sure no one would blame him. Still, he owes Dylan at least a quick response, so: _LA is number 5 in terms of number of bedbug infestations! I’ll do my best not to let them bite, but it might be a losing battle. ;)_ (13).

**Author's Note:**

> References:  
> (1) Referring to Chris Colfer’s acceptance speech at the People’s Choice Awards, wherein he mentions fanfiction.
> 
> (2) Jeff Davis, director/creator/writer for the MTV show Teen Wolf. Has been known to embrace fandom quite a bit, and knows how to rile fandom up. Right now he’s doing a spoiler a week for the new season of Teen Wolf.
> 
> (3) Article on the Daily Dot. I took liberties regarding what specifically was in the article re: Teen Wolf and Glee, but this is the article that inspired the fic. [Fourth Wall Article](http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/crumbling-fourth-while-fandom-shouldnt-hide/)
> 
> (4) Refers to the very well known Dylan O’Brien/Tyler Hoechlin promo video for the Teen Choice Awards. [Video Link](http://youtu.be/nyV5QziOvYw) Short, cute, epic.
> 
> (5) The first of many campaigns organized by the Sterek Campaign, dedicated to showing the cast and crew of Teen Wolf how much fans care about the Sterek pairing. Have an article about the campaign, and click through it for more information about the Sterek Campaign. [Article](http://www.dailydot.com/culture/cookies-for-sterek-fan-campaign-jeff-davis/)
> 
> (6) Chris Colfer, in addition to being a fabulous actor, is also a writer. He’s published two books thus far: The Land of Stories: Wishing Well and Struck By Lightning: the Carson Phillips Journal. The latter is a book tie-in to Colfer’s first movie, Struck By Lightning.
> 
> (7) Chris Colfer has (at least in fanon) an obsession with Diet Coke. I am borrowing this fact STRICTLY from fanon, and actually don’t know if he likes it a lot in real life as well. Oh well, I hope he does!
> 
> (8) This is actually a reference to something my mom said, about how she tried to print a GIF set out and that it didn’t move on paper. Seemed like something Dylan might joke about.
> 
> (9) The Darren mentioned repeatedly is Darren Criss, who once-upon-a-time was Harry Potter in A Very Potter Musical, and now plays Blaine, Kurt’s love interest on Glee. Because of Criss’ use of social media, and his ability to charm the pants off of everyone regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, or whatnot, I thought it would be good to introduce him as a foil for Criss.
> 
> (10) Roku is an amazing box you can plug into your TV and it lets you do a lot of things, include stream Netflix (if you have an account). Both seasons of Teen Wolf are on Netflix... 
> 
> (11) This refers to a scene in Season 2 where Dylan’s character is stuck in a pool, treading a *lot* of water to keep Derek’s head out of the water so he doesn’t drown.
> 
> (12) This refers to a fan that I am choosing not to link to (haven’t asked permission) who made Chris Colfer a pair of shoes, rather, decorated them and they turned out amazing. Chris has actually worn them several times, and they’ve shown up on Tumblr due to photos, etc. The bracelet I made up, but I’m sure someone, at some point in history, has made Dylan one that says Sterek on it.
> 
> (13) [Ranking of cities and bedbug infestations](http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2012/03/los_angeles_more_bed_bugs_than_new_york.php)


End file.
